Race Face

Next SL Crankset

Starting with the Next LP's carbon inlay and evolving over the years into the full-carbon SL, Race Face has a rich history of incorporating the black weave into its crankarms. The latest and greatest Next SL uses hollow carbon arms and a direct-mount ring to boast a sub one-pound (28t direct mount) weight.

Race Face uses carbon and aluminum sourced from the United States and manufacturing resources in its Canadian facility to produce industry-leading quality. The arms are hollow, with no internal structure left over from the manufacturing process. This means the lowest weight possible, and incredible strength.

But that's only one aspect to these cranks that makes them Race Face's top offering. A direct-mount chainring is not a new concept, but Race Face's Cinch execution ends up making the Next SL one of the most versatile cranksets available. For easy maintenance, the proprietary Cinch spline uses a standard Park BBT-22 bottom bracket tool for installation.

The splined design eliminates the weakness of four-bolt interfaces, and its 7075-T6, 4mm-thick, aerospace-grade aluminum transfers pedal loads without flexing. Race Face provides replacement rings in sizes 26 through 36t, but the cranks are only available with 28 through 34t options. The chainrings work with 9-, 10-, and 11-speed drivetrains, and the rings feature the narrow/wide profile.

This design helps to retain the chain by preventing jump, which is due to a tighter interface between inner and outer links. Now there's no need for heavy guides, and with the large-ratio spread of modern cassettes, you can kiss redundant double- and triple-cranksets goodbye.

The Race Face Next SL Crankset has a raw carbon finish and comes in 28t/175mm, 30t/175mm, 32t/175mm, and 34t/175mm configurations.